The light honey and milk scent of a pup turned sour and rotten from rage and sadness. He marches up to his eldest brother and pushes him. Hard.
“You liar!” Damian screams, face flushed as he goes to punch Dick, but is held back by a bewildered Tim.
Tim curses, grabbing Damian’s wrists and tugging him away from Dick. “Dude, what the fuck?”
“I- baby bat? What is going on?” Dick asked, eyes wide from being pushed and yelled at for seemingly no reason.
“Damian, you need to calm the fuck down,” Jason grumbled out, already standing nearby, hands poised to also restrain the young pup if he managed to wiggle out of Tim’s grasp.
Damian let out an enraged whine, struggling hard before suddenly going limp in his older brother’s arms.
“Y-you- you’re all l-liars-“ Damian hiccuped, tears suddenly streaming down his cheeks as his breath stuttered. Jason, Tim, and Dick exchanged wild and scared looks.
Damian has never done something like this before. The pup has always been controlled and refused to cry in front of any of his family.
“Pup-“ Tim makes a move to scent him, hopefully calm him down, but Damian jerked away and started crying harder.
Dick slowly moved closer, keeping his hands up where Damian could see them and keeping his scent light. “Dames, what’s going on? Why am I a liar?”
Damian hides his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. “Y-you said Ummi d-didn’t do omega things! T-that I shouldn’t b-bother!” Damian takes in another breath. “I-I wanted to, and you said no!”
Dick lets out a shaky breath. “He doesn’t-“
“Liar!” Damian screams, kicking his leg out and swiping Dick’s knee.
The alpha lets out a hiss of pain and allows himself to be pushed out of the way by Jason, taking a moment to surprise the pain, not only in his knee, but in his heart.
“Damian.” Jason’s voice is harsh, but he gently places his hands on his younger brother’s shoulders, keeping him steady. He nods up at Tim, and the omega slowly releases his grip from the pup. “Tell us what happened.”
Damian lets out a soft sob and desperately tries to wipe away the tears rapidly falling from his eyes. “J-Jon came over, and we were playing-“
“What does that have to do with Bruce?”
“Fuck, let him finish, Dick, he’s barely even started,” Tim snapped, crossing his arms and trying his best to look unaffected by his baby brother crying.
“And I l-left the room… then I came back and he just- he just asked!” Damian threw his hands up, looking frazzled and still in disbelief. “He just asked if Ummi would scent him, and he agreed!”
All three brothers’ eyes widened, and Tim’s mouth dropped in shock.
“What?” Dick breathed out quietly.
Jason looked away from Damian and made eye contact with Tim, speechless at what he was hearing.
“Damian, are you sure you heard right?” Tim asked shakily, uncrossing his arms, then crossing them again. He had no idea what to do with himself. “Bruce has never- we’ve never- are you sure?”
“Yes!” Damian wailed. “A-and then he did! He scented Jon, and they cuddled! And you lied! He does do that with pups! Why did you lie?!” Damian breaks down again, sobs shaking his body as he falls into Jason’s arms and doesn’t move.
Jason held his little brother close, trying to rumble softly to calm the pup down, but nothing was working.
The sound of hurried footsteps running down the hallway was accompanied by the scent of another anxious alpha.
Cassandra comes in quick, her body tense and poised for an attack, just in case one is coming. “What’s going on?” Cass demanded, heckles raised as she looked around the room.
"We're just talking." Jason interrupts, glancing back at DIck. "Just... Damian's upset, and we're talking about it." The pup in his arms lets out another whine of distress.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop it. The scent of a distressed pup is drowning Mom, and he’s freaking out.” Cass said, moving closer to Damian. "Is little brother alright?"
Damain wiggles in Jason's arms and turns to face his older sister. "Do you- does Ummi scent you? Do you go into his nest?" His voice was soft and choked as he stared up at her with watery eyes.
"I-" Cass's brows furrowed. "Yes?"
That just seemed to set Damian off again as he started crying once more. Cass panicked a little, looking to her other siblings for help, but they were staring at her with the same confused, stunned expression.
"What do you mean Bruce scents you and lets you in his nest?" Dick asked, standing up and grabbing onto Cass's arm. "H-how often?"
"When did it start?" Tim grabs onto her other arm, his eyes wide.
Any other questions the brothers had to ask were immediately halted as Bruce rushed into the room, the scent of a anguished omega mixing in with the scent of a anguished pup. It was horrible.
Bruce's eyes were blown wide, his hair wild like he had run his fingers through it erratically, his muscles tense, and concern had never been etched on his face so clearly.
"Pup?" Bruce called out, his voice pitched up in a keen of distress. "Dami? Baby, are you okay?" Bruce's eyes scanned over all his kids, but locked on to the youngest in the room and frowned.
“Ummi!” Damian sobbed, reaching his hands out, and Bruce was on him in an instant.
Before anyone in the room could react, Damian was already safely cradled against Bruce’s chest, the omega softly humming an unknown song as he rocked the pup.
“Shh, you’re okay, my little prince. I’ve got you.” Bruce murmured, pressing a kiss to Damian’s forehead and pumping out soothing omega phermones that he only used in dire situations.
Damain instantly relaxed in Bruce's arms, melting in a way he's never been allowed to before. He was still just a pup. Being with his mom is right where he was meant to be. Just seeing him brought a comfort he never thought he was capable of feeling.
Bruce purred softly. More out of a need to comfort himself and comfort the pup in his arms.
"Let's..." Bruce hesitates. "Let's go to my nest, okay, pup? Do you- are you okay with that?"
Damain lets out a soft chirp in response, hugging Bruce tighter around the neck and burying his face in his Ummi's scent gland, taking deep breaths.
Bruce let out another purr and hugged Damian back, just as tight. "Okay... okay..." Bruce murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of Damian's head as he walked out of the room toward his own room, where his nest was set up without a glance back, his mind singularly focused on comforting his only pup in any way possible.
His four other children just watched. And soon, it was just them in the room.
"He's not going to ask you," Cassandra said, eyes still staring out the door where Bruce and Damian had left. "You know he's not going to ask."
"Why?" Jason asked softly, still kneeling on the floor. "Why can't he just ask? Why hasn't he asked?"
Cass finally looked back at them, her face carefully blank. "You already know the answer to that question."
Tim let out a deep, shuddering sigh and covered his face with his hands. "We would've said no."
"..." Dick closed his eyes and turned to the window, unable to bear looking at any of his siblings. He knew he was the one who started this. He knew, deep down, this was all his fault. He was the one who made Bruce not do 'omega' things with any of his children. "We have said no."
Cass nodded sharply. "He refuses to overstep."
Each of them could think of a time when they brushed Bruce off or yelled at him for trying to parent them. Rejecting everything the omega had to offer. Never once thinking of Bruce's feelings and Bruce's needs.
"No." Dick interrupted the other alpha, placing a hand on Jason's shoulder as he stood up to make his way to the door. "We can't- we shouldn't go in there. Bruce needs to focus on comforting Damian. Too many people could stress both of them out."
Tim let out a soft mewl of distress and doubled over, tears clear in his eyes. "We... I thought... I also wanted..." Tim stood up, unsteady on his feet as he pushed past his siblings. "I need to go to my nest..."
Tim stumbled out, and it didn't take long for Jason to follow and make his own escape, grunting out something about needing to go for a ride, before disappearing quickly.
Now, it was just Dick and Cass.
Cass stared, and Dick answered her unspoken question. "No... I guess I've never considered his feelings... I-Ive made fun of how he doesn't act like an omega... but I made him like that. Didn't I?"
"Maybe not entirely." Cass shrugged, walking over and patting him on the shoulder. "When I first asked, he... mom was so surprised. Mom was in denial and kept asking if I was sure. I think mom cried a little cause I was the first."
Dick winced, feeling his heart hurt.
"I've always wanted to, but... I guess..." There were too many things to think about. Bruce was new, and he needed time to get used to the older man's scent. And then he was still grieving his parents. And a million other things. It never seemed like the right time, and before he knew it, he had grown up and was desperately searching for independence and a chance to run away from his failed relationship with his mom Bruce.
Then more kids, more tragedies, more distance, more fights, less time, less affection, less bonding, less Bruce.
"That's the problem." Dick presses his forehead against the cool panes of the window. "He always... he always forgives..."
Cass, graciously, ignored the crack in his voice. "If it makes you feel any better, I won't forgive you that easily. And neither will Damian once he's in his right mind. The three of you will have a lot to answer for."
